> So I am very intrigued by Pete's finding of research indicating that
pesticides can over-ride bee instincts to "power down" for winter, perhaps
because they are making mistakes interpreting environmental signals.  We
already know that bees behave differently (and badly) as a result of
pesticide/fungicide/herbicide (you name it) exposures in the spring and
summer.... since these chemicals stress their immune and neurological
systems and the neural results are usually confusion.  So it is easy to
suppose that seasonal input might also be misinterpreted by bees that are
suffering from chemical toxicity. when they need to prepare for winter.

I have a yard that has virtually no exposure to pesticides/fungicides. They
are still not kicking out the drones, raising drone brood- not normal for
this area at this time.

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